Columbia University is drawing growing criticism for keeping its campus locked off to the public, nine months after the school called in the NYPD to arrest student protesters.
Both Manhattan City Councilmember Shaun Abreu and the head of Community Board 9 are pushing for Columbia to reopen its gates, and the university is facing a lawsuit from neighbors who say the campus closures violate the law.
"Columbia, in my opinion, is being a bully. And it is a public asset that they have taken, and everybody is afraid to fight them," Christine Ruyter, a resident of 116th Street and one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, told Hell Gate.